Rubber tread



Sept. 1, 1925. 1,552,241

F. H. STANWOOD RUBBERV TREAD .Filed Jupe 11. 1925 1 Mh L Patented Sept.v ll, v

UNITED STATES l 1,552,24i PATENT OFFICE..-

nam: II. s'rANwoon, or wILIIn'r'rn, ILLINOIS, AssIGNorro dlumwoon muni. um conm, or cnIcAeo, ILLINOIS, A conrona'rIoN -or :um

nunnnmnnan.

Appumn `alec :une 11, 1923.' sex-m no. 044,535.

To all whom t may concern:

Wilmette, in the county of Cook and' State Be it known that I, FRANK H. STANwooD,

citizen of the United States, residing irjsential part .of 4this invention.

5 of Illinois, have invented a new and usefuL Improvement in Rubber Treads, of whlch e following is a specification. My present invention relates to' step plates,A or non-slipping treads, of the general typ 1,257,144 and 1,409,125, and has more par' e shown in my prior Patents Nos.

ticular reference to the provision of means on such a tread to support 1t upon an automobile runnmg board 1n such manner as to ca pl board.

use it to cover the binding stri or edge ate normally provided on sai running A further object of the invention is the provision of an automobile running board step plate provided with supporting forme by merely molding the rubber cov,

plar'ts, stri s, on the bottom thereof, whic are ering of the metal insert shown in my prier patents in such manner as to provide said supporting parts, or strips, this being manifest y an economical operation which does not add materially to the cost of the tread.

Other objects and advantages of the iniment thereof. Referring to the drawings, t Figure 1 is a plan vieyv 4of a. step tread embodying my invention, the same being nin own in (positionupon an automobile runboar Fig. 2 is a partial transverse section, taken substantially on the line 2-2 in Fig. 41;

Fig. 3 is a partial longitudinal section taken substantlally on the line 3-3 in Fig. 1.

invention comprises a metal As thus illustrated, the step plate of my pate 21 enclosed in a rubber covering 22, which preferably is vulcanized thereto, in accordance with my Patent #1,257 ,144 above referred On the upper surface of said covering,

there are provided spaced ribs 23 andbe'-y yond the edge ribs are corrugated nosings 24, substantially as shown in my Patent 1,409,125. 4The general construction of e step plate, it is believed, need not be furtherrdescribedsince it is fully set forth in my earlier patents and does not form an 'The running board, which is generally indicated at 25, is of the usual form in which binding strips 26 are rovided at the front and rear edges, these orming, in the present instance, a part of angle members 27 secured to the front'and rear edges of the running board and extendin over a surface board 28 resting upon t e body members 29 of saidboard. As clearly shown in Fi 2, the strips 26, which are of met-al, are e evated a considerable distance above the surface of the surface board 28, and, in accordance with the-present invention, I provide strip plarts 31 on, the under side of the tread, w ich are of approximately the same thickness as the metal strips 26, whereb1 the tread is supported at t e surface leve of said strips and ada ted to extendthereover. In the present 1nstance, I have shown relatively wide strip parts 31 at the o posite ends and in the center of the trea and narrower parts 32 intermediate said parts 31. The length of these strip arts, it will be observed, is such` that they' t between the binding strip 26 with the ed es `of the' step tread extending suiciently eyond ,the ends of the strip parts to fully cover said'binding strips.

With the construction just described, the metal strip's'which form a slippery surface Y are covered at \the point where they are likely to be engaged by the foot and danger of slipping is thus prevented. The tread is also firmly supported, so that it will not lose its shape in service. It may, -of course, be held in desired position in any suitable manner, as by rivets 33 provided at suitable ointds at opposite sides of the running It is thou ht that the invention and many of its attenant advantages will .be understood from the foregoing description, and 100 it will be apparent that various changes may be made inf the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofv the invention,

or sacrificing all of its material advantages, 105 the form hereinbefore described beingmerely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. A step` tread for automobiles and the like, comprising a plate having non-slip- 11 ping elements thereon and having edge portions adapted .tto extend over edge strips of a running board and means on the under side of said plate tor supporting the latter at the level 0f said edge strips.

25A step tread for automobiles and the like, comprising a plate `having non-slipping elements on the upper surface'thereof, and means on the under surface for supporting said plate at the level of anedge strip on the running board, said plate having a part adapted to overliesaid strip.v e

3. A step tread .for automobiles andthe like, comprising av rigid plate having` a covering thereon providlng a Kl10n-slipping surface on the upper side, and means on the I under side adapted to support the tread at the level of an edge strlp on the running board, said tread having a part adapted to overlie said strip.v ,u

4. A step tread for automobiles and the like, comprising a metal plate having a rub- .ber ooverlng vulcanized thereto and providing a non-shpping surface on the upper side,

land means on the under side adapted to support the tread at the level of an edge strip on the running board, said tread having'a part adapted to overlie said strip.

5. A step tread `for automobiles and the like, comprising a metal plate, and a unitary rubber covering about said plate, said covering being formed with non-slipping upper surface elements and supporting el ments on the under side of substantially the thickness of a running board binding strip said elements being adapted to bev disposed inwardly of Said strip with the edge of the tread extending over the strip and prevent-v ing slipping on the latter.

6. A step tread forautomobiles and the flke, comprising a non-,slippingplate adapted to be positioned upon a running board `having an edge binding strip' thereon, said plate havingme-ans thereon for supporting it at the level of the binding strip whereby) it may overlie the latter.

FRANK H. STANWOOD 

